WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, personal secretary and close friend to the late Pope John Paul II, was named the archbishop of Krakow on Friday, the Vatican’s representative to Poland said.

Dziwisz, 66, takes over the position once held by the late pope, said Jozef Trela, secretary to papal nuncio Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk.

He replaces the popular Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, 78, who asked to retire three years ago due to his age but stayed on at the request of John Paul.

“I have been wanting and thinking about this for a long time,” Macharski said of Dziwisz’s appointment in an interview on TVN24. “It is a sign John Paul II is still providing us protection from heaven.”

Pope Benedict XVI accepted Macharski’s resignation at the same time he appointed Dziwisz, the Vatican said.

Macharski said Dziwisz would likely take over his new duties formally on Aug. 27 at the Wawel Castle cathedral.

Macharski said Dziwisz’s appointment was widely anticipated, and would be treated “by the entire world with kind feelings and respect.”

Dziwisz, who shunned the limelight during his time serving the charismatic John Paul, had been a close associate since 1966. He is widely credited with helping save John Paul’s life by rushing him to the hospital after he was shot in an assassination attempt in 1981.

He was one of only two living people mentioned in John Paul’s will, and was at the pontiff’s side when he died.

Dziwisz, the son of a railway worker, was born on April 27, 1939, in Raba Wyzna in the mountainous region of southern Poland, close to the late pope’s home town of Wadowice.

The Krakow archbishop is traditionally a cardinal, meaning Dziwisz will likely be elevated to that position.

AP-ES-06-03-05 0746EDT